Tighe Architecture intended the Taichung City Cultural Center to be first and foremost a symbol of progress. Its technologically advanced and environmentally mindful scheme projects a sophisticated, lively, progressive, forward thinking vision to help catapult Taichung into the 21st century.
Located on the northern end of the park, the cultural center stands as the gateway into Taichung Gateway Park, providing visitors with a multipurpose cultural, artistic and recreational facility with an iconic flare. The facility is designed to include a world-class museum of fine arts and a public library.
The museum of fine arts is thought to be the new crowning jewel of the park and is located at the end of the major axis through the park. Large windows at the scale of the galleries give the building an identity and offer a glimpse into the facility from the exterior. A grand exhibition hall runs the length of the building and is designed for optimum flexibility with large versatile spaces that can house a variety of venues. From the inside of the grand hall, framed views to the exterior are provided with a panoramic view of the park as well as one to the city.
The library is seen as a semi-subterranean learning center on the site. To connect it to the landscape, the building is open and transparent at the street level and the south end is burrowed into the ground. With this building as well, optimum flexibility was pursued with an open floor plan to allow for future growth and integration of carious new multimedia technologies. Within the library are several “buildings within the building” representative of special programmatic elements such as the children’s reading room, the technology room, and the exhibition hall.
Both the museum and library explore the relationship of the exterior surface of the building to the surfaces of the interior volumes. The pattern derived from the landscape is used on the building surfaces and becomes the means by which the interior surfaces are penetrated. The main entrance for both buildings as well is at the Plaza level, which is located one level up from grade and extends out into the park. The plaza serves as an exterior public gathering space with a honorific grand stair case and stepped landscape that provides a civic presence for the buildings within the park.
Courtesy of Tighe Architecture